Illuminated note-pad.



W. Afl BBASSARD. Mummia nots PAD. APPLICATION FILED AUGJ?. 19|?.

' 'PatentedSept STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WERNER A.' BRASSABD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ILLUMINATED NOTE-PAD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24, 1918.

Application filed August '27, 1917. Serial No. 188,513.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, WERNER A. BRAS- sARD, a subject of the KingofEngland, re-

siding at New York city, New York, have invented certain new and usefulmprovements in Illuminated Note-Pads, .of which compact easily carriedmeans for holdingl said paper in position to be written onand forsimultaneously illuminatingV the sameV without, however, permitting suchilluminat1on to attract the attention of a hostile observer. A furtherobject is to provide an arrangement by which duplicate copies ofk thememoranda may be made, one copy to be removed and transmitted, and theother copy to be retained by thewriter.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of my invention,0n line 1-1 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;

Figs. 3 and 4 are side and end views, respectively, with the coverclosed; and

Fig. 5 shows,von a larger scale, a crosssection Ln line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

The preferred embodiment of m invention comprises a container prefera lyof a size and shape to conveniently t into a coat pocket. The containerconsists of a casing 2 with a cover 4 pivoted at one end thereto andadapted to be held closed by a latch 6 at the other end. At the oppositeends of the casing, two spools 8 and l0 are rotatably carried onslidable pins 11 and 12, which may be drawn outward to permit the re`-moval and replacing of the spools. The sockets 13 for the heads of thepins 12 form the pivots for the cover 14. The Hanges 14 of the spoolsare knurled and their knurled edges are positioned substantially in theplane of the light transmitting plate to be hereinafter described inorder that they l may be readily rotated by the user. Curved sheetsprings 16 and 18, carried on the rear wall of the casing, prevent thecontents of the spools from becoming loose thereon or unwindingtherefrom except when desired.

Across the upper side` ofthe casing, between the rollers 8 and 10,extends a plate 20 formed of light-permeable material which ispreferably translucent, such as frosted or ground-glass, or the like.Behind the plate 20 is fitted a reflector 22, at the center of which ismounted the electric lamp 24. Between the reiector and the back wall ofthe casing is acompartment .26 opening at v27 through one side Wall ofthe casing, and adapted to removably receive a flat electric cell 28. 4l

The closure 34 for the open side of the and carries on its inner side ametallic spring 39 mounted on the insulating support 40; this springserves at theA same `timeto connect one terminal of the cell 28 totheconductor 38, which is insulated from the walls 0f the compartment andleads to one terminal of the lamp, and also to force the cell inwardlyso that its other terminal makes contact with the metallic pin 37. Onthis pin 37 is slidably mounted a metal strip 30 which, by means of theprojection 32, may be slid into or out of contact with the end of theconductor connected to the other terminal of the lamp, and thus completeor break the circuit containing the cell and the lamp.

The spool 8 carries a double roll of writing paper, that is, of papersuitable to re ceive a written record. This roll comprises twosuperposed strips 40 and 42, the strip 42 having its undersurface, thatis, the surface adjacent the strip 40, provided with a transfer coatingof carbon or the like. When the device is ready for use, the free endportion of the strip 42 overlies the outer surface of thelight-permeable plate 20, while the free end portion of the strip 40 iscarried on the spool 10, an intermediate portion of this strip lyingbetween the end portion of the strip 42 and the plate 20. There are thusprovided two sheets of paper overlying the plate'20, which sheets willbe illuminated sutliciently by the lamp 24 when the switch 32 is closedto make it possible to write legibly on the upper sheet, such writingbeing duplicated on the under Sheet by' compartment 26 is held in placeby latches,

vided a spring held roller 44 arranged to bear lightly upon the uppersurface of strip 42. This roller coperates with the spring 16 andsprings 16 and 18 to keep the strips 40 and 42 drawn flat and smoothover the plate 20. Other rollers 46 serve to guide and support the stripbetween the spools and the ends of the plate 20.

When the portions of the strips above plate 20 have been filled or whena note is completed, the spool lO'is rotated to wind. thereon the strip40, the strip 42 being drawn forward therewith until the writtenportions have passed beyond the end of the plate 10. In order tofacilitate the detachment of the used portion from the end of the strip42, a metal bar or blade 68 is mounted across the end of the plate 20adjacent the spool 10. y v

The cover 4 is provided with depending sides 70, one of which may beprovided with loops 7 2 for holding a pencil 7 4. When the pad is inuse," the cover 4 may be held in position to cut oli, from anyone exceptthe user, the light that passes beyond the strip 42. It is obvious ofcourse, that an independent strip of carbon paper may be used in placeofthe transfer coating on the underside of the stri 42, or that eitherstrip 40 or 42 and the Carson coating may be ldispensed with, or thatother strips similar to 42 may be added. Additional lights, if required,ma be connected to the cell 28.

n order to meet the different conditions of practical use, the inventionmay be other- Wise variously modified and may receive other embodimentsthan that herein, specifically disclosed; and the appended claims are,Within the limits defined by the state of the art,'to be interpreted asincluding all such modifications and embodiments.

What Il claim is 1. A device of the class described, com;

prising in combination a casing having a movable cover and being ofpocket size, adapted to be grasped by one hand, said cover being adaptedto be opened and closed by the other hand, the cover side of the saidcasing having va light-permeable section, illuminating means back 0fsaid section, completely housed and hidden in said casing except throughsaid light-permeable section, and means located at one end ofsaid casingand beyond one edge of said section for holding a sheet of writing paperadapte/dto` overlie the outer surface of said light-permeable section.

2. A device of the class described, comprising in combination a casingof pocketsize adapted to be grasped by one hand, one side of the casinghaving a light-permeable section, illuminating means located in saidcasing always back of said section, a spool located in one end .of saidcasing to one side of said illuminating means and beyond one Lacasseedge of said light-permeable section, said spool having a ange, the edgeof which is adjacent the plane of said light-permeable section wherebysaid spool may be rotated, means for protecting said spool againstdirect light from said illuminating means, and a strip of writing paperon said spool arranged to have successive portions thereof positionedover the outer surface of said light-permeable section.

3. An illuminated note pad, comprising the combination of a casing, asource of light therein, a reflector for the light, a dat lightpermeablesection secured to the edge of said reflector at one side of saidcasing, the back of said casing receiving the pressure on saidlight-permeable section through the medium of said reflector, and meansto one side of said section and reector and at one end of said casingfor holding a sheet of paper to be imposed on said section when it isdesired to write on'it.

4. A device of the class described, comprising in combination a casingof pocket size adapted to be grasped by one hand, one side of saidcasing having a light-permeable section, illuminating'means in saidcasing located at a point back of said section and completely housed andhidden lin said casing except through said light-permeable section, aspool in said casing, a strip of paper wound on said spool and havingits free end portion overlying said light-permeable section, a secondstrip of paper having one end portion wound on said spool and having anintermediate portion lying between said light-permeable portion and saidfirst strip, said first strip having a carbon coating on its underside,means for winding up the other end portion ,of the second strip to bringsuccessive portions of said strips over said light-permeable section,said illuminating means being located between said spool and saidwinding means, flanges on said spool and winding-up means having roctheir edges adjacent the plane of said lighted in said casing adjacentone end of said plate, and means for excluding direct rays of light fromsaid spool.

6. A device of the class described comprising, in combination, a shallowcasing, said casing having-a central back compartment, an electric cellin said compartment, a light-permeable plate having a support from saidcompartment, an electric vlarnp connected to said cell to illuminatesaid plate and located between said compartment and plate, and a papercarrying spool rotatably mounted in each end of said casing, the devicecomposed of Said parts being self-contained.

7. A device of the class described, comprising the combination of acasing of pocket size adapted to be grasped by one hand, a atlight-permeable plate at one side of said casing, and adapted to supporta writing sheet, an electric cell located in said casing, a circuitcloser positioned on said casing to be operated by said hand, anelectric lamp in said casing and havingconnections within said casingwhereby it is connected with said cell for illuminating said plate whensaid circuit closer is operated, and a spool rotatably mounted in saidcasing for supplying said writing sheet,said

spool having flanges with their edges adjacent the plane'of said lightpermeable section whereby sai-d spool may b e rotated.

8. A device of the character described, comprising the combination of acasing, a at light-permeable plate at one side of said casing andadapted to support a writing sheet, an electric cell located in saidcasing, an electric lamp in said casing and connected with said cell forilluminating said plate, a

reector for said lamp constituting the direct support for said plate,and a spool rotatably mounted in said casing for supplying said writingsheet.

Signed at New' York, N. Y., this 21 day of August, 191'?.

Witnesses C. T.. NEAL, B. MIEVIS.

